Government face masks too little for population in Busia

Busia, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  Busia District has run out of face masks to distribute to residents.  The border district received 305,000 face masks targeting citizens from six years and above, as part of a declaration of the government calling for the mandatory wearing of masks to safeguard communities against COVID-19.  

Records show that up to 325,527 people fall within the bracket of those targeted for the distribution of masks. This means that more than 20,000 people were not catered for. As they traversed villages on the distribution drive, area chairperson and village health teams restricted provisions to only two masks per household, according to the residents.

Several local council leaders across the districts said the masks were fewer than the number of people who need them. While some rejected them, those around the municipality asked that priority is given to them because of the congestion and associated risks.    

Muhammad Iddi Kibaki, the LCIII Chairperson of Western Division in Busia Municipality said that some LCI chairpersons in the sub-county rejected the face masks on grounds that it was not feasible to give masks to some residents and leave out others. He said that the Division was given 25,000 facemasks against a population of close to 40,000 people.       

Busia Deputy Resident District Commissioner Paul Kalikwan Mwidu says that the number of masks they received in the district were fewer and could not meet the demand. He, however, hastens to add that they are making efforts to ensure that everyone in the district gets a face mask.  

But Geoffrey Malobo Sida, one of the VHT who was distributing masks at Madibira B village priority was given to only the people who were found at home at the time of distribution.   

Like Busia, the officials in Tororo also say the masks that they received are less and that they cannot be enough to cater for all the people in the district who are eligible. Dustan Balaba, the Tororo District Resident District Commissioner says that they received 406,300 masks for the population of over 500,000 in the district.

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